Azul_the_Cat wrote:Now we don't need a full border wall. First it was the greatest wall in history, then maybe we could use a fence in some areas, now it's not even a freakin' continuous structure. From failing to repeal and replace the ACA, to not calling China a currency manipulator, and now the wall. This guy is running out of promises to break. It's almost he has to exist in the same reality the rest of us do. Who could have thought health care would be so complicated, right guys?

ACA was designed to fail. That was known when Nancy told America the democrats have to pass the law to see what is in it. The OBM (?) predicted the pyramid scheme would be insolvent by the time Obama left office. They were right as exchanges all over the country are failing.

Just one of the many intentional booby-traps Trump received during the presidential transition of power. The incompetent and untrustworthy republican leadership just should have let it crumble rather than try and fix a democrat created problem.

Now we don't need a full border wall. First it was the greatest wall in history, then maybe we could use a fence in some areas, now it's not even a freakin' continuous structure. From failing to repeal and replace the ACA, to not calling China a currency manipulator, and now the wall. This guy is running out of promises to break. It's almost he has to exist in the same reality the rest of us do. Who could have thought health care would be so complicated, right guys?

135jc wrote:Exactly, The Republicans are doing their due diligence and finding issues. More work needs to be done. Quite the contrary to the Dems and Pelosi who infamously said " we need to pass it to see what's in it". You see where that has gotten us.

They had 7 years to do that. Where is the plan? Oh wait...there is none. Republicans are running head strong into the old idea that once you give someone something, it is very difficult to take it away.

Instead of scrapping the whole plan and trying to make something from scratch, why not work with Democrats and try to fix the broken system? Or, does it need to get tossed because Obama?

Exactly, The Republicans are doing their due diligence and finding issues. More work needs to be done. Quite the contrary to the Dems and Pelosi who infamously said " we need to pass it to see what's in it". You see where that has gotten us.

Even with a Republican President and Republican controlled House and Senate, they can't even repeal the ACA. You guys had 7 years to come up with an idea. WTF?

‘Plan C’ on Obamacare, Repeal Now and Replace Later, Has Collapsed

WASHINGTON — With their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in tatters, Senate leaders on Tuesday pushed to vote on a different measure that would repeal major parts of President Barack Obama’s health law without a replacement — but that plan appeared also to collapse.

Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, all Republicans, immediately declared they could not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement — enough to doom the effort before it could get any momentum.“I did not come to Washington to hurt people,” Ms. Capito said in a statement. “I cannot vote to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan that addresses my concerns and the needs of West Virginians.”

Senator Rob Portman of Ohio hinted strongly that he too would oppose it.The collapse of the Senate Republican health bill — and the failing struggle to find yet another alternative — highlighted a harsh reality for Senate Republicans: While Republican senators freely assailed the health law while Mr. Obama occupied the White House, they have so far not been able to come up with a workable plan to unwind it that would keep both moderate Republicans and conservatives on board.

By midday Tuesday, the Republican Party’s seven-year-old promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act appeared broken. At the White House, President Trump said his plan was now “to let Obamacare fail,” suggesting Democrats would then seek out Republicans to work together on a health measure.

“It will be a lot easier,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “We’re not going to own it. I’m not going to own it. I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it. We’ll let Obamacare fail and then the Democrats are going to come to us.”

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, gamely pressed forward on Tuesday even as the ground was giving way beneath him.“I regret that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failures of Obamacare will not be successful,” Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor on Tuesday morning. “That doesn’t mean we should give up. We will now try a different way to bring the American people relief from Obamacare. I think we owe them at least that much.”

On Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats alike were trying to make sense of the bill’s downfall — and what comes next. On Monday night, two Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas, came out in opposition to the bill, leaving Republican leaders at least two votes short of those needed to start debate on the measure.Two other Republican senators, Ms. Collins and Rand Paul of Kentucky, affirmed their opposition to the measure last week, leaving Mr. McConnell with no room for error as he tried to move toward a vote.

Speaking on the Senate floor on Tuesday morning, Mr. McConnell laid out plans for a vote on a measure like the one vetoed by Mr. Obama in January 2016, which, Mr. McConnell said, would include a “repeal of Obamacare combined with a stable, two-year transition period.”Under that bill, the Congressional Budget Office said, 18 million more people would be uninsured within a year, and 32 million fewer people would have coverage in 2026, compared with current law. Premiums, it said, would increase at least 20 percent in the first year and would double by 2026.

That bill would have eliminated the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid and subsidies for the purchase of private insurance. But it would have left in place rules established by the Affordable Care Act that require insurers to provide specific benefits and prohibit insurers from denying coverage or charging higher premiums because of a person’s pre-existing medical conditions.

Those numbers apparently chased Ms. Murkowski away.“There’s enough chaos and uncertainty already, and this would just contribute to it,” she said.They also spooked a bipartisan group of 11 governors, led by John R. Kasich of Ohio, a Republican, and John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat, and including Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada, a key opponent of the repeal effort.“The Senate should immediately reject efforts to repeal the current system and replace sometime later,” said the group, which consists of five Republicans, five Democrats and one independent. “This could leave millions of Americans without coverage. The best next step is for both parties to come together and do what we can all agree on: fix our unstable insurance markets.” The statement was endorsed by the governors of Alaska, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Virginia.

Republican leaders in Congress originally intended to proceed with a similar “repeal and delay” strategy in January. But Mr. Trump, among others, insisted that the repeal and replacement of the law be simultaneous.It was unclear whether Mr. McConnell would even be able to clear a procedural hurdle to get to a vote on the repeal-only measure. He faced the same math problem as with his own bill: He can afford to lose only two Republican senators, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie.Not only has he apparently lost three, Senators Collins, Murkowski and Capito, but he must wait for the return of an ailing Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.Ms. Collins said she would vote against the procedural step.

“I do not think that it’s constructive to repeal a law that is so interwoven within our health care system without having a replacement plan in place,” she said. “We can’t just hope that we will pass a replacement within the next two years. Repealing without a replacement would create great uncertainty for individuals who rely on the ACA and cause further turmoil in the insurance markets.”Mr. Portman all but joined her.“If it is a bill that simply repeals,” Mr. Portman said, “I believe that will add to more uncertainty, and the potential for Ohioans to pay even higher premiums, higher deductibles.”Dr. David O. Barbe, the president of the American Medical Association, which opposed Mr. McConnell’s bill, urged lawmakers to pursue a bipartisan approach on health care, saying, “The status quo is unacceptable.”

The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, invited Republicans to work with Democrats to improve the health law. He warned that passing a repeal-only measure “would be a disaster,” saying it would cause millions of people to lose coverage and, in many ways, would be worse than Mr. McConnell’s original bill.

“It’s like if our health care system was a patient who came in and needed some medicine,” Mr. Schumer said. “The Republicans proposed surgery. The operation was a failure. Now Republicans are proposing a second surgery that will surely kill the patient.”

Reporting was contributed by Avantika Chilkoti, Emily Cochrane, Robert Pear and Jennifer Steinhauer.

Azul_the_Cat wrote:What happened to "Hire American". If enough lobby groups put pressure on Trump he'll cave in. I guess Americans have a problem with hotel work or seafood processing. I bet it's all those lazy millennials who think it's beneath them to work.

So much for Trump spotlighting American-made products and industries this week From NYPOST -

What happened to "Hire American". If enough lobby groups put pressure on Trump he'll cave in. I guess Americans have a problem with hotel work or seafood processing. I bet it's all those lazy millennials who think it's beneath them to work.

During his first few months in office, Trump has murdered more civilians than Obama did over 8 years. LINK

Over 16 years ago, Al Gore was provided a dossier on W. This was presented to him as dirt, very similar to Trump Jr. Instead of taking the illegal action and colluding with, what could have been, a foreign enemy, Gore went to the FBI.

The one thing that can be stated as fact: Al Gore at least had class.

With the constant drip of information coming out about the meeting, there is obviously something there. The constant lying is very notable. First, there was no meeting. Then there was a meeting but nobody was there. Then there was a meeting and some others were there but the discussion was about adoption. Then there was a meeting, others were there but left early, the discussion was adoption... The whole thing stinks. Everyone knows it stinks.

Trump's presidency isn't legitimate. His team colluded with a foreign entity to interfere in the election. This isn't option, it's a fact.

President Trump’s approval ratings have fallen during his first six months in the White House and is the lowest of any chief executive since Gerald Ford in 1975, according to a poll released on Sunday.

President Ford’s approval rating after six months was at 39 percent in February 1975.

Trump wasted little time on Sunday to take to Twitter and blast the poll for being inaccurate.

“?The ABC/Washington Post Poll, even though almost 40% is not bad at this time, was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!?,” he wrote. ?

He was referring to the survey from last November that showed Hillary Clinton up by 49 percent to 46 percent.

Trump won the electoral college, but Clinton took the popular vote by a 48 percent to 46 percent margin.

Trump is bedeviled by the Russian investigation, including his son Donald Trump Jr.’s involvement, his relationship with President Vladimir Putin and his controversial encounters with world leaders during his overseas visits.

Asked about US leadership on the world stage under Trump, 48 percent said it has gotten “weaker,” 27 percent said it is “stronger” and 23 percent said it is the “same.”

Sixty-six percent of those surveyed said they don’t trust him to negotiate with world leaders or with Putin, who the US intelligence community said directed the hacking into the 2016 presidential election.

On that matter, 60 percent of Americans think Russia tried to influence the election – up from 56 percent in April – and 67 percent think Trump campaign members “intentionally” helped Russia meddle – down from 71 percent since April.

Sixty-three percent said it was “inappropriate” for Trump Jr., former campaign manager Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner to meet with a Russian lawyer last June. Another 26 percent said it was “appropriate” and 10 percent had “no opinion.”

Moreover, the Trump Justice Department, after dismissing former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, subsequently settled a case for Veselnitskaya's client very much in their favor. That settlement earlier this spring is now highly suspicious, given this week's revelations. In my personal opinion, it's the most suspicious act to date in the whole panoply of much-denounced Trump behaviors with regard to Russia, perhaps even moreso than the firing of James Comey.

Thanks for pointing out more shady stuff from the Trumps! Maybe Trump Jr. didn't come out with nothing from that meeting. The Russian lawyer sure seems to have gotten a lot from it.

Funny me citing left leaning Rolling Stone and you citing right leaning Examiner. I guess somewhere in the middle is the truth.

Typically when federal attorneys are let go, the DOJ try to settle/close open cases during the transition. This was another one of those odd occurrences Taibbi refers to in this whole US/Russia story. The fine for settling this case was pocket change for the defendants but Congress should look into it..

In the original RS Browder Story, MT said the Russians were pissed off that Browder/US Govt were making a big deal out of them stealing $230 million. The Russians (Putin) were offended being connected to such a crime that only resulted in $230M disappearing.

My original point was that Term Limits would be a significant step forward in stopping this corruption. Is it also a coincidence that Oakland communist/organizer, ex-congressman Ron Dellums was hired by Russians to lobby for repeal? Free Money!

Moreover, the Trump Justice Department, after dismissing former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, subsequently settled a case for Veselnitskaya's client very much in their favor. That settlement earlier this spring is now highly suspicious, given this week's revelations. In my personal opinion, it's the most suspicious act to date in the whole panoply of much-denounced Trump behaviors with regard to Russia, perhaps even moreso than the firing of James Comey.

Interesting background piece by Matt Taibbi... His narrative puts together some disturbing facts about Washington DC Power and its relationship with "the Russians" and "the russians".

The whole thing really comes back to the Obama Administration... He was forced into signing a law he did not agree with (nor did many key republicans). His MO was always only enforce federal laws he agreed with and ignore the ones he didn't. So he reluctantly signs this law and then goes to work in the background supporting the lobbying efforts for repeal.

Hence the shady Russian Woman Lawyer getting that special treatment from DoS... and the photo op of her front row at a senate hearing behind the US Ambassador to Russia.

They needed Trump (on the remote chance he would win the election) because they already had HRC. If Trump had also added Term Limits on his 3 plank platform, Taxes, Illegal Immigration and draining the swamp, he would have had a landslide victory.

"On the other hand, Trump himself came out strongly in favor of the Magnitsky law earlier this year, a piece of news that was then and remains now a weird fit with the collusion narrative. Overturning the Magnitsky Act is probably at or near the top of the list of Russian foreign policy objectives vis a vis the United States. "

You have to be really dumb to think this was a simple hack. Podesta was targeted, do you know of any other person out there whose emails was outed by Russians directed by Putin? And as I've already stated, Podesta wasn't the only one hacked by the Russians. It's really quite amazing how Trumptards keep blaming victims in their efforts to deflect from all the lies and coverups committed by the Trumps. Don't worry, because no matter what you do the Trumps will continue to keep doing stupid stuff.

Reading comprehension? Maybe you should choose to think before you type nonsense like this: "Podesta turning over his password to the Russians"

Reading comprehension is very important. Where did I say Podesta tried to sink his own candidate?Podesta was hacked. He fell for a trap a 12 yr old wouldn't. As far as collusion we may find out Obama and Hillary had Russian contact before this is over. We already know the group who fabricated the dossier and facilitated the meeting are connected

All this talk of Podesta is self serving nonsense. According tot he FBI, the Republicans were also hacked by the Russians but they obviously picked a side. You have to be the dumbest person on earth if you think Podesta colluded with the Russians to destroy his candidate. I mean seriously, where the hell do you get your information? Trump Jr? You do know the hacked emails were from a Google account, right? Try using simple passwords and see what happens.

135jc wrote:Hillary doesn't know how to work an email machine and Podesta replys to spam that a 12 yr old knows to ignore. You Libs complain about Trump im just glad these 2 incompetent's are out of the picture

135jc wrote: blah blah blah nothing burger.

Really? A nothing burger? Podesta turning over his password to the Russians did nothing in you opinion? Good. I'm glad you cleared that up for us.

Nope, not what I am saying. There's a lot of shady sh*t going on with the CURRENT administration and that's your response to all of it.

135jc wrote:Hillary doesn't know how to work an email machine and Podesta replys to spam that a 12 yr old knows to ignore. You Libs complain about Trump im just glad these 2 incompetent's are out of the picture

135jc wrote: blah blah blah nothing burger.

Really? A nothing burger? Podesta turning over his password to the Russians did nothing in you opinion? Good. I'm glad you cleared that up for us.

135jc wrote:Hillary doesn't know how to work an email machine and Podesta replys to spam that a 12 yr old knows to ignore. You Libs complain about Trump im just glad these 2 incompetent's are out of the picture

BIG differences. A low level operative who, as a side project, exposed Manafort's slime-balling. Trump's top people met with Russians and encouraged hacking and manufacturing of "evidence". You Trump fanboys have to just eat your "nothingurgers". The net is closing...Even the guys who wrote the Politico article know this.